Oddly, its the feel-good stories which we think are the most important. This week we had a few stories come by which show much progress is being made in the popularity of regional languages.
Here at VideoTranslator we feel that most people are quite proud of where they come from - its totally natural.
Each one of us has a story of how we came to be, and the stories of those who came before are a vital part of any human identity. This week we have two such stories.
We are also experimenting with more video, so here is a sample! Let us know what you think!
One Igbo Woman Trying To Save Her language
This article from the Nigerian Vanguard newspaper covers one such story.
Onyinye Ibelegbu, the CEO of the NwaadaIgbo Language School is working to save indigenous Nigerian languages from extinction.
The model was first pioneered by her in her mother tongue Igbo. “…At the time I left ZINOX, I had signed up on international teaching platforms. I also signed up on Tuterial as an Igbo Language teacher. I notice, however, that the demand for Igbo Language teaching was very high.”
Nice! This paragraph is illuminating however, I remember that we got punished as students for speaking our mother tongue which was tagged ‘vernacular’ at school. That affected the growth of our indigenous languages greatly. I however think it starts from the home. Yes, our national language is English, but that doesn’t mean we won’t grow our indigenous languages.
“… The Hausa Language is faring better. The average Hausa person will ask you why you cannot speak Hausa and will tell you that you’re supposed to speak her language since you are on her land. I learned the language while working there because they are a people who either do not care to speak English or who don’t know how to. And no matter how wealthy a Hausa man is, Hausa Language is always the language of communication in his home.”
This is true - within the VideoTranslator we have Hausa, but we do not have Igbo. We wish Onyinye Ibelegbu best of luck! Reach her here and check out her Udemy course in Igbo here!
What Does Igbo Look Like?
Google was our friend here, and we found these fantastic images of what Igbo is right now.
And this is also very cool, what Igbo might one day look like!
Tasmania Supports Vision For Aboriginal Languages To Be Taught To All Students
Tasmanian Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff is looking to have children learn a little bit of the local Aboriginal languages, reports The Advocate from Hobart.
The idea is to promote reconciliation, and with any luck this is a positive step forward.
From the article, “They want their language to be brought to the surface in a respectful way and like to have ownership over where it can be used and need to be given respect over how it is used.”
“For them to give permission to non-Aboriginal people is part of that journey.”
At VideoTranslator we think this is a very interesting development. Aboriginal languages are very hard to use (with computers) as much of the infrastructure is missing.
Additionally the majority of Aboriginal languages are dialects, and there is a large number of these dialects which are basically dying out. If you are interested in looking up more information we recommend this website run by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies(AIATSIS).
Conclusion
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